My two year old is still waking up multiple times a night

My almost 2 year old is still waking up multiple times through the night. He’s very busy during the day and usually naps for 2 hours. Sometimes he wont nap at all, but he still wakes up every other hour through the night. Putting him to sleep takes an hour unless he’s really exhausted, he talks to himself and smacks the wall, anything to keep himself up. The past 4 nights he has been up 5 times from 9pm until 6am. I feel like he’s barely sleeping. Usually in the morning from 5am he will sleep a bit better for a solid 3 hours if I’m lucky. Mostly everyone I know says their children sleep through the night by now. Is this normal for a 2 year old to wake up so much through the night ? He usually thrashes around and cries while keeping his eyes closed, its like he is still asleep. Sometimes he will walk into the hallway crying but he doesn’t really wake up enough to even find me whenever my room is right next to his, sometimes he will wander into the living room and cry. I’m thinking he could be sleep walking or having night terrors, whatever it is he cannot stay asleep through the night. Has anyone else dealt with this ? Does it seem normal for his age ?

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Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. My two year old is still waking up multiple times a night

I’ve put a little CD player to play lullabies (I use on of Kenny loggins cd)and a night light :bulb:. Milk and snack before bed adding things like that seemed to help my 2 year old stay a sleep for longer periods of time. I would talk about the night terror stuff with his pediatrician. And with the melatonin, I heard that can make it so they are dependent on it when they get older and won’t be able to sleep without it.so if that’s something you’d like to think of I’d also talk about that with their pediatrician. Best of luck.

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My son had a hard time sleeping and didn’t really sleep through the night. We eventually took him for dental surgery and the would not do the surgery because his airway was so small because his adenoids were enormous. We had a sleep study done that found he was not getting any rem sleep because of lack of oxygen his body kept waking him up to breathe. He hd his adenoids and tonsils removed and has no issues. His pediatrician told us when he was 2ish that to just feed him when he woke up in the night and snoring or leg movements were normal. It is not. He could have died. Get your baby checked losing sleep can be deadly or cause developmental delays.

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My daughter didn’t sleep well until turning 3. We got a fan for noise and a star projector, those things seem to help. She’s 4 and sleeps ok now.

I think if it seems like he’s not really awake, then the screaming and thrashing would probably be night terrors, and him walking around crying could be combo of night terrors and sleep walking. Does he have a nightlight? I know it seems weird, but my daughter started getting night terrors around 1 and once I put out a nightlight they started getting better. I also would have relaxing sounds for her. Night terrors are the worst. Just know you’re doing your best, and all you can do when he’s like that is just hold him. Don’t talk or sing I’ve found that tends to make it worse. But just gently hold him and maybe rock gently. Best of luck :purple_heart:

My son had a white noise machine for the first 6 or so years of his life and it helped tremendously to block out all other noises.

My son is almost 2 and literally gets up 2 maybe 3 or more times throughout the night. Some nights I sleep on the couch just so he can stay up and play until he falls asleep

Weighted blanket, something warm like oatmeal before bed, diffuser with lavender, or sleepy time, fan or soothing music for noise.

Chamomile tea before bed, and a night light…maybe put his bed in your room so that when goes to sleep knowing your in the room…might reassure him that your near him and calm him.

Check into rhythmic movement. Amazon has books on it, the library probably does, there’s YouTube videos that instruct rhythmic movement. Amanda Walker on the Facebook page Whole Brain Connections teaches rhythmic movement, she has some videos on her page. I use it with my kids. It’s so easy and helps them all around.

If you click this link and scroll down the page there’s a short video with some good examples of rhythmic movement.

My grandson had night terrors with sleepwalking over a pretty traumatic event from one to two & a half.
He’s almost three & the environment has greatly improved, but we still deal with waking up several times, crying, walking around.
He usually gets 1 melatonin gummy while in a warm bath, a good snack & drink & he’s ready for sleep. If he gets up now it’s about once per night & picking him up, & rocking him back to sleep seems to help the most.

Coule be allergies,lack of oxygen, adhd, my son was the same way definitely ask his pediatrician.

Maybe try running a humidifier with lavender scent or a fan, something with a slight noise. I sleep better with something running and a lot of people do. Maybe it’s too quite? Also try a night light in the hallway if it’s pretty dark outside of his room.

I have 4 boys. 3 here already 1 will be here any day now. All of my sons experienced sleep regression around the age 2. It wasn’t until they were 3 that they really slept through the whole night. One of my sons did experience night terrors and occasionally sleep walks. He has grown out of it the older he has gotten but it still happens sometimes. He is 6 now.

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my son is three and sometimes he will wake up from a dead sleep , crying and then when he gets what he needs he goes right back to sleep , one day it was his giant green ball :rofl: my best advice is to try melatonin or the zarbees children sleep aid , both of which have helped my child sleep through the night

My son is the same age. Sometimes he sleeps through the night, sometimes he doesnt. I make sure he goes to bed with a tummy full of crackers, that seems to help tremendously. Sometimes he has nightmares. Its normal momma.

Sounds like growing pains. I’d talk to Doctor. Maybe there is something natural that can comfort him

They go through a sleep regression at around 2 years old, it may take a few weeks, but it will pass and he’ll start sleeping better, might not sleep through the night every night, but it slowly gets better.

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It may not be “normal”, but it’s definitely not abnormal either. I know from experience that being overly tired can cause sleep issues. You might try putting him to bed a little earlier. Also, my son has slept with a weighted blanket for the last few years and it definitely seems to help with his sleep issues.

Lavender oil in a diffuser at night start it 10 mins before he goes in to bed

Mine is almost 5 and has maybe slept through the night 10 times in his entire life. We got rid of naps, did melatonin, weighted blankets, run him absolutely ragged, no sugar, no dyes, no gluten, no dairy, lights, no lights, music, rearranged his room, you name it: we tried it. nothing has made a difference. If you find the magic answer, im alllll ears.

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They’re are lots of tips and tricks but the truth is babies are just different… My daughter woke multiple times at this age and it was hardwork… Once she turned three she dropped to either one wake up or none. Now at almost 4 she wakes up once every night to come through into my bed and I don’t mind long as she’s back to sleep and we all get rest… All I can say is my son is 13 months and I haven’t done a thing different and he sleeps fine… My daughter just struggled to sleep without comfort and my son could self soothe from day one… Don’t let parents who have only had easy sleepers make you feel like it’s you doing it all wrong… It’s not. However, a discussion with your GP and looking into air waves or under line causes of pain etc might be worth it as two is still a little young to tell you what’s going on… Good luck with all of it… Also, if he’s not potty trained you might be surprised to find this changes sleep for him… Some kids just hate being and sleeping in their dirties, I mean who can blame em!

My son would thrash around before bed and then cry in the middle of the night its normally about having to pee but I have to ask him like 10 times and guide him to the bathroom before he says that thats what it is. My other son used to have night terrors and would wake up crying throughout the night. Sometimes its even a body part thats fallen asleep and they don’t really know how to feel about it so they just scream and cry. Be patient and as he gets older these things will pass. Good luck I know it can be hard having to get up so much or hear them crying and not know exactly why but you just have to slowly figure out what cry is for what if that makes sense lol

That doesn’t seem normal to me- I would bring him in and talk to a doctor. Poor thing, both of you!

Also check for ear infections. They diagnosed my son with night terrors due to a similar situation and it turned out he just has an ear infection, which hurts more when lying down.

Lullabies saved my sanity

It’s normal, my oldest didn’t sleep through the night until 4, and my youngest is almost 2 and wakes up twice every night. We always make our pediatric wellness checks and there has never been issues. Patience is a virtue with littles.

sounds like night terrors
google them.

I would get a sleep study done

Give him a baby tylon

Get his iron checked. I had this EXACT issue. Night terrors every night multiple times a night. Turned out his iron was extremely low.

I use melatonin for my kids but I would ask a dr or pharmacist before hand